Thursday, May 27, 2004
SPECULATION SEASON
The speculation season is still in full swing. It would be as dangerous to believe anti-hunting MPs who say they 'know' that a banning Bill is coming back, as it would be to convince ourselves that such a step is impossible. Look at the words the Government actually use, not the spin people put on them or non-attributable briefings.
Contrary to the impression which you may have picked up from some newspapers, Gerald Kaufman is not the DEFRA Minister with responsibility for hunting, nor is he Leader of the House. The fact that Mr Kaufman has chosen once again to repeat his conviction that the Hunting Bill will return, and regale us again with the 'assurances' he has had from unnamed 'senior ministers' behind closed doors, is not a news story - it is an inevitability. The question he cannot answer is why, if he is so confident in his 'assurances', does he need to hold press conferences to tell everyone about them?
Our opponents have been working towards a ban for decades and believe that they are as close to securing victory as they have ever been. They are also, however, well aware of the enormous difficulties that the Government will face if it chooses to help its backbenchers push forward with a ban and that this parliamentary session might well prove to be the best chance they will ever have of securing their goal. As the clock ticks on towards the end of the session they will continue to use every possible opportunity to raise the hunting issue and put all the pressure they can on the Government to return a banning Bill. It will increasingly become a game of nerve and it is crucial that neither the Alliance, nor the wider hunting community, crack first.
We must continue at every opportunity to point out that a ban would be illogical, unjust and spiteful and that no one, bar a few obsessive, out of touch MPs, like Mr Kaufman, think that hunting should even be on the political agenda. That is why the national press opposes this legislation, why public opinion is against a ban and why thousands of people who do not even hunt, support our campaign for civil liberty and individual freedom.
We have right on our side and although nobody, including Gerald Kaufman, really knows how this battle will end, right most often prevails - even in politics.
Contrary to the impression which you may have picked up from some newspapers, Gerald Kaufman is not the DEFRA Minister with responsibility for hunting, nor is he Leader of the House. The fact that Mr Kaufman has chosen once again to repeat his conviction that the Hunting Bill will return, and regale us again with the 'assurances' he has had from unnamed 'senior ministers' behind closed doors, is not a news story - it is an inevitability. The question he cannot answer is why, if he is so confident in his 'assurances', does he need to hold press conferences to tell everyone about them?
Our opponents have been working towards a ban for decades and believe that they are as close to securing victory as they have ever been. They are also, however, well aware of the enormous difficulties that the Government will face if it chooses to help its backbenchers push forward with a ban and that this parliamentary session might well prove to be the best chance they will ever have of securing their goal. As the clock ticks on towards the end of the session they will continue to use every possible opportunity to raise the hunting issue and put all the pressure they can on the Government to return a banning Bill. It will increasingly become a game of nerve and it is crucial that neither the Alliance, nor the wider hunting community, crack first.
We must continue at every opportunity to point out that a ban would be illogical, unjust and spiteful and that no one, bar a few obsessive, out of touch MPs, like Mr Kaufman, think that hunting should even be on the political agenda. That is why the national press opposes this legislation, why public opinion is against a ban and why thousands of people who do not even hunt, support our campaign for civil liberty and individual freedom.
We have right on our side and although nobody, including Gerald Kaufman, really knows how this battle will end, right most often prevails - even in politics.
